Posted on 05/06/2003 10:09:33 AM PDT by MrLeRoy
RENO, Nev. (AP) - A Superior Court judge sharply criticized the drug war and renewed his call for the decriminalization of marijuana at a pro-marijuana rally Saturday.
Judge James Gray of Orange County, Calif., said the drug war has cost billions of dollars and resulted in the United States having the world's highest incarceration rate - with no end in sight to rampant drug abuse.
The former federal prosecutor said he has never smoked marijuana, but supports the strictly controlled distribution of pot to adults.
"We have made an illness into a plague. (This is) a failed and hopeless system," Gray said.
"I believe people should be entitled to do what they want to their bodies, but that they should be held accountable," he added.
Gray, 58, a lifelong Republican until he became a Libertarian earlier this year, has been a judge for 19 years. He's the author of "Why Our Drug Laws Have Failed and What We Can Do About It."
More than 60 people attended the "Rally for Cannabis Liberation" at Reno's Idlewild Park.
The rally was sponsored by Cures not Wars, a pro-marijuana group that was to hold similar rallies around the country this weekend.
Group spokeswoman Michelle Buck of Reno said the purpose of the rally was to raise awareness that tens of thousands of Americans are in prisons for non-violent drug crimes.
Of particular concern, she said, are thousands who have been arrested for legally or illegally supplying medical marijuana.
Some people held signs that read "Free Ed Rosenthal." The Oakland, Calif., man's arrest last year was among a string of federal raids of medical marijuana suppliers in California.
A 1970 federal law does not recognize any medical purposes for marijuana. A federal judge refused in January to allow Rosenthal to tell jurors he was operating under state law.
Jurors convicted Rosenthal. When they learned the details they were not told during the trial, several jurors said they regretted their verdict.
"We're here to show our support for people like Ed," Buck said. "Marijuana is not the evil drug the federal government has made it out to be."
In November, Nevada voters rejected a measure to legalize possession of up to three ounces of marijuana by a margin of 61 percent to 39 percent.
Gray, appointed by Gov. George Deukmejian to the bench, was the keynote speaker at a Libertarian Party of Nevada dinner Saturday night in Virginia City.
We need to relegalize them, the drop in price and subsequent drop in drug-money-motivated crime being one reason.
Then, to discourage their use, we need to slap on an ungodly tax like we do with cigarettes.
Nope.
There is a Soros connection, Soros(Hillary friend and uber socialist) is the biggest funder of the pro-legalization drug lobby. It's a fact.
Oh BTW, I won't be making any lame jokes about a person's death to get this thread moved to the smokey backroom, like some did with the thread about the motorcyclist who was killed when cows got out onto an interstate highway in Florida when the fence was cut and authorities in the area had reported that people were cutting fences to "pick" psychedelic mushrooms from cow manure.
Given that the article provided ammunition against the WOD, who are you accusing of sabotaging the thread?
Marijuana will be taxed at what? What figure have you heard that makes you say, "nope"?
Oh BTW, vin and jmc if you are going to mention my name in a reply could you please "ping" me and not make snide remarks behind my back.
This:
"So lemme get this straight...
"You're saying that if these mushrooms were for sale at 7-11, as a number of legal intoxicants already are, then the dopers would have cut the fence down anyway?"
Nope.
Marijuana will be taxed at what? What figure have you heard that makes you say, "nope"?
My "nope" was in response to your claim of "need."
And we could tax marijuana at 100% and not come close to the WOD markup.
Not a problem. I was under the impression that you wanted a break from my WOD pings, but, fair enough, next time you'll get a ping.
They aren't legal at 7-11 at the present time. If you want then legal, call your local congresscritter. That didin't stop some people on your side from making lame jokes about a persons death, when the cause could have been shroom pickers cutting fences and going through cow manure for their high and letting the cows roam onto an interstate.
JMO, the joking about the motorcyclists death that could have been caused by people breaking a myriad of laws shows your zealotry that you only care about your cause(drug legalization) and not the consequences of the people you want to empower more, drug users, in search of a high.
Are you familiar with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation?
You've gotta understand the "gallows humor" runs rampant on all threads here on FR. For example, do a search on "Rachel Corrie".
Uh Rachel Corrie knew what she was doing by taking up the cause of a murderous political sect of the Palestian communtity.
The motorcyclist was a victim by no fault of his own.
Eaxctly my point.
the consequences of the people you want to empower more, drug users, in search of a high.
So to end this irresponsible behavior, I can either pay tens of thousands of dollars per user per year to arrest, try, and jail them, or I can relegalize drugs at no cost. Tough choice.
In your opinion, not that of the femanazies who believe they define when an unborn person is a person.. If person A is hurt by person B's self destruction then it is not as simple either. But we've already done this dance.
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